Components, powers & commitment: Building blocks of business model change for sustainability

Sustainable business models (SBMs) are needed to respond to social and environmental challenges affecting society globally. This is because business models substantially influence activities and relationships in society. In this thesis, through a focus on existing organisations with a predominantly commercial focus (‘commercial organisations’), I respond to calls for theorising of the dynamic processes of business model change towards sustainability. I first contribute the potential effects of an SBM. I identify SBM components and their ‘powers’, describing where, what kind, and for whom, sustainable value creation occurs within SBMs. This also provides a necessary building block for consistency and debate in the SBM literature. Next, through the lenses of institutional logics and institutional work, I investigate shared underlying expectations that influence business models. Over an almost 2-year ethnographic study, I follow an employee-owned professional services firm (PSF) from a realisation that ‘sustainability’ needed to be considered through to inclusion of sustainability in the firm’s organisational strategy. I find that the ‘business case for sustainability’ in a PSF can lead to change when important clients’ sustainability requests are specific, or client pressure for sustainability is recognised as a market trend. Institutional work can include framing that connects sustainability with meeting customer needs and protecting and enhancing shareholder returns. This anchors primacy of customers and shareholders. Framing also includes interpreting ‘sustainability’ for the firm, and can extend key stakeholders to include the environment and communities. Institutional work of formalisation, including documentation and organisational reporting processes, ensures sustainability is on the agenda and communicated consistently across the firm. I also show that understanding logics that influence governance is important in navigating towards SBMs. In an employee-owned PSF, leadership needs a mandate from employee-owners before making changes, particularly for any changes in choices of customers and how services are delivered. Institutional work that supports achieving a mandate includes aligning with key stakeholders and familiarising employees with sustainability so the inclusion of sustainability in organisational strategy is expected. The thesis makes contributions to scholars and practitioners to assist in understanding, and therefore more readily accelerating, change from existing commercial organisations towards more sustainable business models.

Name thesis:degree_name

PhD

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Management

Grantor dc:publisher

ResearchSpace@Auckland

Year dc:date.issued

2021

Author dc:creator

• Olesson, Erica Elizabeth

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Nenonen, Suvi
• Newth, Jamie

Statement dc:rights

• Items in ResearchSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated. Previously published items are made available in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/docs/uoa-docs/rights.htm

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/2292/60247

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:researchspace.auckland.ac.nz:2292/60247